Olimar Discovers a New Pikmin
by AquaRaptor
Summary: My take on what it'd be like if Olimar discovered my pikmin breeds. Each chapter will feature a different color. Remakes in progress!
1. Black

**As mentioned in the description, I'll be uploading one chapter for each and every pikmin idea I've got. The reason I feel inspired to do this after a long period of not writing anything pikmin-related is that it's been _unofficially _confirmed that Pikmin 3 will be moved to Nintendo's next console and will be shown at E3. According to insiders, the graphics look "drop dead gorgeous". **

**But enough with my absurdly long sentences. Those of you who are familiar with my pikmin species (and by "those of you", I mean just Dspr...) may notice that I've made some changes to them. Enjoy!**

**I'm going to start out with black pikmin, and next chapter will have pink pikmin, because I feel those two colors have the highest chance of being in the next game (pink more so than black). I could explain why, but I lack the inclination at the moment...**

Olimar was standing in a trench; not so deep as to merit a "cave" status, but deep enough to be shrouded in darkness. He had entered through a small burrow entrance, and was standing before something that seemed very bizarre.

It was an Onion he had just activated. A Black Onion. But that wasn't the strange part.

This Onion had no stilts. It remained firmly planted in the ground, and it was surrounded by four "roots" that stood slanted out of the soil. Olimar could only assume they were connected to the Onion somehow...

Olimar reluctantly turned his attention to the black sprout that was wiggling before him. Logic told him that such a strange onion should produce a strange pikmin in return. But he had to suck it up. Any new species was worth cataloging, and it may turn out to be of great use to him. He gripped the stem and, performing the usual motions, sent it flying out of the ground with a clump of cold dirt.

Luckily, the pikmin's appearance was by no means freakish. Its proportions were identical to that of a red or a blue pikmin, and its hands and feet were colored white, giving it a rather forgiving appearance. He was, however, drawn back slightly by the yellow sclerae of its eyes, as opposed to the usual white.

The ship's reactor went off noisily with excitement.

"Olimar, this pikmin bears no resemblance to any of the species encountered on our last expedition. It must be brand new! Wait, what's this? My sensors tell me that this pikmin's physical structure is more durable than normal..."

Olimar set off with his new "friend", but the moment he walked into the sun, it shrieked and back up into the shadows again. The ship contacted Olimar again.

"This is peculiar. The specimen refuses to follow you any further. It's retreated into the shadows..."

"...Olimar, could it be that this species fears light...?"

* * *

><p>The black pikmin is an interesting breed. They are highly heliophobic, meaning they fear sunlight. They will only follow Olimar in areas that are covered in shadow, making their usefulness extremely limited above ground. However, they have free run when underground, where their abilities will come in handy. First off, their durability gives them a 50-50 chance of surviving an explosion. Second, they can survive radiation, which appears in the form of radiation panels. Glowing green, these panels kill non-blacks instantly and <strong>cannot be destroyed<strong>. They often serve as "gates" to limit access of certain areas to black pikmin. Others are simply pedestals for desirable objects that, obviously, only the black pikmin would be capable of retrieving.

Since black pikmin can only be taken to places via a "path of shadow", not all caves are immediately accessible to them. Sometimes, you'll need to put in a little work to _make _them accessible (i.e. building a bridge overhead to form a shadow). Since they're area specific and have much less range than the primary colors, they're considered a "secondary" type, like bulbmin.

When using them, it's advised to avoid Solworms as their glow resembles sunlight and will cause them to scatter.

Also, their Onion feeds on spoils by absorbing them with its bowl-shaped root tips, as opposed to its underside like other Onions. It doesn't follow you into the atmosphere; instead, there are multiple Onions, and each one is region specific.


	2. Pink

Olimar and his team of fifteen red pikmin curiously approached a somehow familiar plant. It vaguely resembled a candypop bud, but its petals were curled upward, it stood on a tall stem, and it had several pink berries growing beneath it. Olimar's transmitter started to beep.

"The berries on that plant resemble those that are used to process sprays."

"Scanning..."

"This is quite peculiar. These berries have a genetic makeup drastically different than those previously encountered. I doubt they'll be much use for a spray."

"...What's this? Olimar, your pikmin seem to have grown restless..."

Following instincts, Olimar threw some reds near the plant. In response, they climbed the stem and struck away at the berries beneath the flower. In no time, all five of them were down and on their way toward the Red Onion. In quick succession, the Onion absorbed the berries one by one.

Both Olimar and the Ship were baffled at what happened next. The Onion produced seeds... that were pink.

Without a moment of hesitation, Olimar plucked one of the sprouts. The resulting pink pikmin was no eyesore. It was a bit on the small side, not as small as a white pikmin, but slightly shorter than a red pikmin. It also had a small lash on each eye, and its voice was slightly feminine compared to that of the other colors.

"Astounding! The berries have caused the Onion to deposit seeds of a separate color...! This is a groundbreaking discovery! The reproductive system of the Onions is quite an enigma indeed..."

"But is this new pikmin a distinct species, or is it merely the same color pikmin of the Onion that spawned it, but mutated? How mysterious..."

"Brzzzzbt! Discovery! My sensors are picking up silk secretions from this specimen's skin. It appears to be adhesive in nature. I wonder if this could be of use?"

It wasn't long before Olimar came up with an idea, after having plucked the remainder of the sprouts. Each berry produced two seeds, so he had ten pink pikmin with him.

The previous day, he had encountered a pit in a path that was filled with water. The only way to reach the ledge on the other side would be to build a bridge. The problem was, there wasn't a pile of sticks for use. There were a bunch of dark green leaves, yes, but how could the pikmin successfully build a bridge out of leaves, let alone one that would stand?

Olimar's intellect proposed a solution. When he reached the pit again, he called his pinks to the front and tossed them all at the leaves piled before it. The pinks, relying on impulse, got to work right away. By the time they were finished, Olimar's jaw had hit the rim of his helmet.

What the pinks had done was build a complete and neatly-cut leaf bridge, the pieces having been strung together by their sticky secretions. And it held, too, as he and his followers were able to cross with ease.

* * *

><p>Pink pikmin are spewed by Onions that have absorbed the fruit of the Sugarpod Sprout. The Sugarpod is a close relative of the Candypop Bud, which adds a whole new layer to the peculiarity of candypop plants in general. Despite being born from Onions, pink pikmin do not nest inside them.<p>

Pinks use their adhesive silk secretions as glue to make bridges out of normally useless items like leaves. They're the only pikmin capable of doing this, and ergo, they're necessary to open certain areas.

The silk also has the reverse affect of protecting them from outside adhesive substances. Some caves will have webbing barriers (think of what a spiderweb would look like if the spider were drunk) that block pathways. If a different type of pikmin tries to attack such this type of barrier, it will only get its stem stuck briefly before pulling free and going idle. The pink pikmin, on the other hand, will not get stuck and can easily break the threads.

Certain enemies use stickiness as a means of attack; some use goo-covered appendages to snare pikmin, while others fire globs of goo to trap pikmin on spot. Pinks, of course, are either simply pushed aside or completely unaffected.


	3. Green

**I've been getting a lot of PMs from readers lately asking if they can use my pikmin ideas in their fics. So I thought I'd begin this chapter by saying that everyone's welcome to use my ideas so long as I'm credited. Also, link me to the fic you use them in, because I wanna see. =)**

Olimar, with a mixed group of reds, yellows and blues, approached something that was quite the pleasant surprise.

The surrounding area was beautiful. It was full of lush greenery, and streaks of light that penetrated the canopy caused parts of the ground to glow. But Olimar paid no mind to any of this. Only the object in the center of his pit called his attention. It was round, had a pointed tip, and was a brownish-green.

There was no mistaking it. It was an Onion.

But one that needed to be activated.

Remembering what happened the first time he found an Onion, Olimar slowly approached it. Without warning, a flower popped into existence at the tip and the Onion turned bright green. Olimar quickly backed away as the strange organism continued to quake in place, until it finally ripped out of the ground. The Onion flew upwards in a violent motion, only to gently settle down on its newly spread legs. Right away, it deposited a single green seed that blissfully twirled until it meet the ground and sprouted a stem. A stem with a bigger leaf that usual...

"KRRRRRRRZT!" went the Ship, unable to contain its "excitement" as usual.

"This is astounding! Not only have you discovered a new species of pikmin, but also, a new Onion!"

"...Come to think of it, wherever are the purple and white Onions? Do they even exist...?"

"Oh, never mind my musing. You must pluck the sprout immediately!"

Olimar did just that, and the resulting pikmin was by no means a trend breaker. It's coloration was a leafy green, except for two light green markings above its eyes that seemed reminiscent of eyebrows.

"This new pikmin has curious streaks above its eyes!"

"Hmm..."

"My scans indicate that those marks are actually glands of some sort. They could be of use! Olimar, you must begin research right away!

After doing some harvesting with the local Pellet Posies, Olimar turned a lone green pikmin into a group of fifteen. Satisfied, he proceeded forward...

...only to meet a stone wall.

Disheartened, the captain dismissed his pikmin so he could sit down and think. There had to be a way to get past these stone walls, but how? The pikmin's blows alone were too weak to do any damage.

You could imagine his surprise when the wall began to crumble at the attacks of the stray green pikmin.

* * *

><p>My original green pikmin idea, along with SO MANY others, had an acid immunity. However, I've been feeling that the whole acid idea is too much of a rehash; it's the same thing as water only it kills instantly. So I decided to invert it!<p>

The green pikmin's brow glands secrete an acid that corrodes away at stone walls, which makes this pikmin a sort of replacement for bomb rocks. It also works for enemies that are armored, which come in two classes: shelled and metallic. Shelled enemies have (check it) shells that need to be broken before they can be killed, and metallic enemies have hard, metal-esque hides that are only damaged when attacked by green pikmin, like how reds are with the fiery bulblax. Some sort of small species of lithopod could suit the latter role.

Also, their slightly bigger leaves/buds/flowers come in handy only at certain times. In specific areas, there will be a visible breeze in the air. The green pikmin's plants work like sails, so if you throw one with the breeze, it will travel farther, which is useful for crossing long pits and such to build a bridge on the other end. Throwing one against the breeze has the opposite affect. Unfortunately, this trait leaves them very vulnerable to puffy blowhogs.


	4. Grey

Olimar was stumped. He had no clue how he would deal with this dilemma.

What he needed to do was build a bridge that could be used to reach a tall ledge. Sadly, the building sticks were located on top of the ledge, which was too tall for any pikmin to be thrown over... except yellows, but he couldn't use those since there was a water-filled gap at the base of the obstacle.

Teasingly, there was a small tunnel on the sublevel that plainly led to the pile of sticks, but the entrance was blocked off by vertical sewer grates.

Ready to quit, Olimar was about to tell the ship to abort the exploration when something caught his eye.

It was a candypop bud. But it wasn't one he had previously encountered. This one was grey.

Very much excited, Olimar chucked five blue pikmin in the flower. It closed up, ejected five seeds, and retreated into the ground. Olimar wasted no time plucking the first sprout.

The new pikmin was quite different. Its leaf was a crisp brown as opposed to the usual dark shade of green, and it had what was apparently a navel. It was also notably thinner than the other types...

"Discovery! Discovery! Our explorations have uncovered a new pikmin species!"

"Hmm... This species is quite thin. It seems to be rather flexible, too."

"It would appear this new grey pikmin is capable of physical feats the other species aren't..."

Knowing what he should try almost immediately, Olimar took his squad to the sewer grates. He guided his five grey pikmin to them and... success! They squeezed right through the grates! Carefully, he whistled a special rhythm to coax them through the tunnel until they reached the sticks, and it was at that point the bridge building could begin.

* * *

><p>Grey pikmin can squeeze through tight spaces, including the grasp of a snitchbug. They are also smarter than other pikmin and will target an enemy's weak point rather than pointlessly attacking an armored area (if you throw one at a dweevil, it will focus completely on getting to its body, instead of striking the legs). If they can't physically reach a creatures weak point, they'll do the next best thing and mill around under or near it. Therefore, they can be used to clue you in on the weak spots of bosses that aren't immediately obvious.<p>

To be entirely honest, I highly doubt there will ever be a grey pikmin, but I still found this worth uploading nontheless.

My original idea had them immune to low-oxygen areas (smoke) and radiation, but I ended up getting rid of smoke since it was too similar to poisonous gas while radiation was passed to black pikmin. I figured squeezing through tight spaces would be more fitting since prison bars are stereotypically grey, and I made them smarter because they have *drumroll* grey matter!

By the way, the "special rhythm" I mentioned was referring to the c-stick.


	5. Brown

As Olimar was wandering through a cavern with a band of yellow pikmin, he stumbled upon something of mild interest. Pikmin like to feed on the yolks of honeywisp eggs as much as they do nectar, so whenever he found an egg, he felt obliged to let his pikmin break it to pieces.

However, every egg he had encountered before was white, and this one was brown with dark, pebble-shaped spots.

He was a bit curious as to whether or not this was the egg of the different variety of honeywisp, or perhaps an entirely different creature. But nonetheless, he sent the last of his leaflings after the easy meal. The yolk that spilled out was colored like chocolate milk. It still seemed normal enough, though.

But when the ten yellow pikmin drank it, they quickly mutated into brown pikmin!

"This is astonishing! Nothing like this has ever been documented!" said the ship.

"The contents of the brown egg have caused your pikmin to become brown! The new species has claws and what appears to be a mole on its left cheek area!"

"Olimar, you must try and discover the species that produced the egg! This can lead to so many discoveries about the mystery of pikmin genetics!"

"As for the brown pikmin, those claws seem as though they could function for burrowing..."

The ship was right; Olimar put them to good use by having them dig tunnels through mounds of dirt that had previously blocked his path. But even as he fell to the next sublevel, he felt as he had only scratched the surface of their potential...

* * *

><p>Thanks to their vaguely root-like claws, the brown pikmin can dig tunnels, bloom faster when buried, and are a <em>bit<em> harder to shake off.

The digging has two uses: It can be used to make tunnel paths through walls of soil, which was covered in this chapter, and it can be used to clear pools of mud, which slow your pikmin down and are an overall nuisance.

Since their primary ability matches their color, and their two side abilities make them practical to use for general gameplay, I'm pretty satisfied with this idea.

The next chapter will be about orange pikmin.


	6. Orange

Olimar watched intently as his blue pikmin furiously attacked the bizarre creature before him. From what he could tell, the beast had no means of fighting back, but it still pays to hedge one's bets.

Luckily, it succumbed to its injuries and died, at which point Olimar could get a better look at it. Curiously, he approached the corpse and made some interesting observations about it.

It resembled a pikmin, in that it was bipedal and had a stem topped with a leaf. It was obviously bigger as it was twice the size of a dwarf bulborb, and bright orange in color. Yet... It had no arms, or eyes, or even a distinguishable head for that matter. It was merely a featureless mass on legs (with little nubs instead of feet) and a stem.

Strange. Perhaps he shouldn't have let his pikmin it.

But regardless, it was too late now. He allowed the blue pikmin to take the body back to their Onion. When it absorbed the prize, it expelled five orange seeds.

"What's this?" said the ship.

"The body of the orange creature has caused the Onion to deposit seeds of a different color!"

"Nothing like this has ever been observed..."

"Could this be some peculiar form of reproduction for the species...?"

Reluctantly, Olimar plucked an orange sprout. Thankfully, the resulting pikmin looked pretty normal, sporting three freckles on each cheek.

"This new pikmin bears little resemblance to the creature it was spawned from... It seems rather energetic"

"Scanning..."

"That's funny, there doesn't seem to be anything special about this variety."

"My sensors do tell me it has a poor sense of smell, but what good is that?"

The ship would have to withdraw that last statement the next day when Olimar encountered a horrible smelling dung beetle-like creature. The stench was so awful that it repelled all of his pikmin... except the oranges.

* * *

><p>The creature you have to kill and harvest to get orange pikmin is called the Orange Pikpik. It's relation to the pikmin isn't clear.<p>

Since oranges have a poor sense of smell, they can:

-Attack foul smelling enemies (including mitites).

-Withstand stench-based attacks from enemies.

-Destroy rotten eggs (which give off a smell that fills a small perimeter).

"Stench" is always depicted as a yellowish gas. It doesn't kill other pikmin; rather, it repels them. This works two different ways: if they get too close to a smelly enemy or rotten egg, they'll run in the opposite direction and go idle, but if they get _sprayed _by an enemy, which doesn't leave a lasting stench cloud, they'll scatter in random directions like they do when an Emperor Bulblax roars.

The orange pikmin also recover faster when they're knocked down by an enemy.

On a final note, this idea was inspired by the great horned owl, which has no trouble preying on skunks due to its poor sense of smell.

Next chapter will be cyan pikmin, and then all my basic color ideas will be posted. The fanfic won't be finished, though. I'll explain further next chapter.


	7. Cyan

Olimar gazed at the plant before him. It vaguely resembled a Burgeoning Spiderwort, but had a large, bulbous sac hanging from the tip of its stem instead of berries. It must've been heavy, because the plant dropped over slightly.

It was a rather odd sight to see a plant like this in such a cold climate.

Curious, he threw his red pikmin at the blue sac one by one. After several attacks, it burst and a cyan fluid spilled onto the snow. Seeing it as a sort of nectar, Olimar allowed his pikmin to drink it.

Much to his surprise, the fifteen reds that had a drink quickly mutated into cyans.

"Discovery! Discovery!" cried the ship.

"By drinking the plant's fluid, these pikmin have mutated into a light blue variety. I wonder if this plant is related to pikmin somehow?"

"Strange... These light blue specimens apparently lack the gills of blue pikmin, sporting whiskers instead. They must be entirely different from their darker relatives."

"To avoid confusion, I shall dub them... cyan pikmin."

"Hmm... My sensors tell me this pikmin's body is covered in a natural antifreeze. Could this be of use?"

Olimar knew this would come in handy, because his path had been blocked by an ice formation. The other pikmin wouldn't attack it because it was too cold, but the cyans had no trouble breaking the ice to pieces. When they finished, Olimar took a look at their feet and noticed they were different than that of the other colors. They were slightly bigger, and the toes were clawed.

Surely, those too could serve him well somehow...

* * *

><p>I'm sorry, were you expecting an ice-resistant pikmin?<p>

Instead of simply giving them immunity to icey-vapor like most people do, I gave them another ice related ability, among other things. Sporting yellow flowers, Cyans have many adaptations for surviving in cold climates, which comes in handy even outside their native range.

First off, their antifreeze let's them destroy chunks of ice without trouble. If other pikmin try to do the same, they'll simply recoil because of how cold it is.

Second, their clawed feet allow them to keep their traction on frozen ponds. This also works for oil slicks, which can be encountered naturally or as a form of attack.

Third, their whiskers help them detect their surroundings (presumably so they don't get lost in blizzards), so they're the only pikmin that can navigate areas drenched in thick fog. The other pikmin fear it and refuse to follow you into it, but since cyans can compensate for the poor visibility easily, they have no trouble doing so. Fog can be cleared by activating glowing mushrooms.

This is the last of my "colored" pikmin ideas. This isn't the final chapter, though. I still have other pikmin _related _species I'd like to share. Stay tuned.

The plant you use to get them is called Frostberry Sprout, by the way. It can be found in many underground areas, but is the only plant that can be found above ground in snowy regions.


	8. Primin

Olimar landed in a sublevel, one that was a barren tunnel. After he got his wits together, he gathered his pikmin and ventured into the darkness. Along the way, he encountered fifteen light-peach pikmin sprouts.

Perplexed, he plucked one. The result was... unexpected. The "pikmin" wasn't so much a pikmin as it was a pikmin seed with eyes, a longer stem and nubby feet. It was smaller than a white pikmin, and its stem was shorter than the average pikmin's.

"Krzzzzzt! This is quite peculiar! The pikmin you've plucked appears to be undeveloped! Could it be a primitive species...? My sensors aren't detecting anything noteworthy about this specimen. I don't see how it could be of much use..."

Olimar plucked the rest, and they fell in line with their "normal" brethren. As Olimar moved, the primitives had the easiest time keeping up with him. Soon, they encountered an orange bulborb. A fight ensued, and the primitives somehow managed to cling to their foe using only their feet. Whenever they were shaken off, the primitives would get up immediately, followed by the oranges and finally the other colors. Once the bulborb was dead, Olimar dismissed his pikmin to carry the corpse away, but the primitives merely stood there as the others did the work.

* * *

><p>Primin are only found in caves and are meant to be nothing more than a convenience, like bulbmin. They're the fastest pikmin of all, even faster than whites. Their recovery time is also unrivaled, topping that of orange pikmin. These traits make them very useful in hectic battles. Their main weakness is that they're nearly useless outside of battle. Since they have nothing to grab with, they can't carry treasurescarcasses nor can they pull obstacles like boxes.


	9. Botmin

**CHALLENGE MODE: HARD DIFFICULTY  
><strong>

Olimar and twenty-five mechanical pikmin fell into a dark abyss. Upon landing, one of the robots turned to face Olimar. It was light grey, had empty, blue eyes and its leaf was slightly fake looking. There were crevices in its joint areas, for obvious reasons. Still, it behaved pretty realistically.

"You have opted to play in Hard Mode," the Ship started to explain.

"In this setting, you will only have access to Botmin. They are artificial pikmin crafted by Hocotate's best technicians. Good luck... You'll most definitely need it."

The room had multiple hazards, so Olimar decided to conduct some tests. He threw a Botmin into a fire geyser. Its "leaf" ignited and it ran around helplessly until it collapsed. It disappeared in a tiny explosion, though it left no ghost behind.

He tossed another between some electric nodes. The resulting shock instantly destroyed it. He tried this again with a pool of water. It flailed until it shut down.

Olimar chucked one into a poison vent. It flailed about until it, too, shut down and self-destructed.

He wondered how a robot could even die from poison.

* * *

><p>The Botmin have no special abilities whatsoever. They're used for a "hard" version of challenge mode, where you basically have no advantages over enemies or hazards in any shape or form. That would amp up the challenge a bit, I think.<p>

Of course, hazards that completely block your progress would be nonexistent.


	10. Green V2

**So... I've had the entirety of Pikmin 3 spoiled for me, and it's apparent to me that most if not all of my ideas would not fit in the game. So I'm going to start making version 2's of all my previous idea (except the second ones). Luckily, I've come up with some neat ideas, so hopefully you will find these revamped types more interesting than their predecessors.**

Followed by a squad of red pikmin, Olimar ventured through a small cavern. For some reason or another, most of the floor was covered in thick pools of ugly, dark-green slime. The piles were only slightly taller than him, but they were far too dense to wade through, and pikmin thrown on top of them would sink and be forced to thrash their way back to their leader as if they were drowning (though the slime was too dense to be drowned in). He was forced to travel through the narrow passages between the puddles of gunk.

How could he get any work done this way? The portions of the floor that weren't slime infested were too small for any meaningful treasure to be transported out of the cave. He wished he had winged pikmin, but he hadn't encountered any since the last time he was on this planet.

After he eased into a wider, slime-free portion of the cave, he was very surprised to find a Green Onion. However, it was covered in swarming sheargrubs. The Onion made feeble attempts at shaking them off, but it was no use. Deciding to give it some help, Olimar chucked some red pikmin at the persistent pests. One by one, they were battered to death, and the Onion sprang into the air and unleashed its tendrils before spitting out a single green seed.

"Astounding! A new Onion has emerged from that swarm of dreadful insects!" said the Ship.

The pikmin sprout was lime green with a dark green leaf. Excited, Olimar clutched it with both hands and pulled. With a pop, the green pikmin flew out of the ground and landed on its feet. Its height was between that of a red and a white, its hips were slightly wider than normal (at least compared to a red, yellow or blue), and it had lime-green sclerae in addition to four pointy, green whiskers and a little tail that was hardly noticeable.

"Incredible! This **green pikmin** is unlike any other type ever discovered! Hmmm... My readings indicate that it's covered in **bodily secretions****.**The layer of fluid is thin and transparent, but my readings indicate that it's **stronger and more ****robust **than it seems. It also seems to be comprised of a **unique compound**...Further analysis is needed!"

Olimar whistled the green back to him and harvested some green pellets. One of them was on a ledge that was only accessible by a thorny stick, which he knew from a previous experience that red pikmin couldn't climb. Out of curiosity, he threw a green pikmin at the stick and it scaled it without trouble.

"Astounding! Green pikmin seem to have no trouble grasping thorny objects! Their mucus layer must protect them from **sharp objects! **This should be very useful for exploration!"

After he had produced fifteen greens, Olimar took them back the way he came towards the slime. It was then that he got an idea. One by one, he chucked the greens at the gunk and watched as they destroyed it bit by bit.

"Unbelievable! The green pikmin's secretions also serve as a **dissolvant** for the slime!"

* * *

><p>My previous green pikmin idea involved them using acid to break down stone walls and destroy enemy shells. However, this is essentially what rock pikmin do, so I altered them slightly. Green is associated with slime, so I incorporated this into their abilities.<p>

The slime is similar to the gold liquid encountered near the end of Pikmin 3 and is destroyed in a similar fashion, only this time, you can't walk through it and only greens can attack it. It doesn't kill your pikmin, but it is a major obstacles. A handful of enemies will also use it to defend / hide themselves.

Their secretions also shield them from thorns, like how a snail can slide down a knife without cutting itself. This allows them to climb thorny sticks, attack prickly enemies, and cross thorny patches out ground. Other pikmin recoil from thorns like they do from electricity, only they don't get paralyzed.

The whiskers trait is inspired by catfish (fish are also covered in a layer of mucus), and the tail is derived from a maturing frog (again, because of mucus).


	11. Brown V2

Olimar was wandering down a pathway when he stumbled upon a dead end. On his right was a block of wood that was firmly wedged in a tight space. The path continued on the ledge above the block, but he had no way to get up there. However, he could hear what sounded like an active geyser beneath the block. He threw his pikmin at it to see if they would get it to move, but his reds and yellows were only good for pushing, and the block needed to be _pulled _out of the way. Their little fingers simply couldn't produce the grip needed to accomplish this task. If only there were a handle attached or something...

He looked to his left and saw a mound of dirt, and protruding from the top of it was what appeared to be a flower. An all too familiar flower that was wiggling slightly...

Since they were excellent diggers, Olimar sent his yellow pikmin to unearth what he correctly surmised was an Onion. In no time, they cleared enough dirt for the vessel to spring into the air and unleash its tendril-like legs. The Onion was brown, and so was the seed it released.

Excited, Olimar ran up to the sprout and plucked it. Unlike winged and rock pikmin, this new specimen's physiology didn't differ much from that of the primary colors. However, it's body was covered in thin strands of fuzz, like a kiwi or a coconut. It reminded him of a purple pikmin's follicles, only the brown pikmin's were tinier and covered everything except for its eyes. Its fingertips were also adorned with tiny, dark brown claws.

The Ship's alarm went off.

"What a curious new discovery! This new pikmin is fuzzy and has claws! Perhaps those claws could be used for something important?"

There was a pause before the Ship spoke again.

"Hmm... My sensors indicate that the brown pikmin's fur is coated with a natural wax. I wonder what purpose that could serve..."

After producing some more browns with the help of nearby Pellet Posies, Olimar did the obvious thing and chucked them at the block of wood. Using their claws to get a good grip, they worked together to pull the block out of the wedge and expose the geyser. Pleased, he proceeded up to the higher ledge where he encountered a Swooping Snitchbug. Before he could respond, the insect descended and snatched two brown pikmin. Olimar was annoyed at the inconvenience, but moments later, the browns wiggled their way out of the Snitchbug's grip.

* * *

><p>My original brown pikmin idea had them digging tunnels, but all pikmin can do this in Pikmin 3, with yellows being the best at it, so that's apparently not going to happen.<p>

Brown pikmin can slip out of an enemy's grasp, pull objects out of tight wedges and can cling to enemies with slippery skin (other pikmin can only hold on long enough to get one or two hits in, like rockmin with the Shaggy Long Legs). Since all pikmin can push and winged pikmin can lift, I think it would be neat if there was pikmin that could pull. The pull-able objects will always be wooden since wood is brown, and I can imagine immobile enemies with long brown hair that could be ripped loose. Also, they can only escape enemies that grab and hold pikmin for a bit, like Snitchbugs and (for the sake of example) Blinnows. I thought about having them use this ability to access hard to reach places, but yellows and wings do this in their own ways, so I'm dropping that idea.

The next chapter will be Black V2, and since my original black pikmin idea was rather poorly received, I hope to redeem myself with the new one. =P


	12. Black V2

In his search for natural resources, Olimar had ventured into the depths of a coal mine near the landing site. Due to the high amounts of noxious gas, the only pikmin that were able to follow him down there were the whites; the other colors simply waited at the entrance. As he scanned the area for any ores or minerals to collect, he was surprised to see a Black Onion.

"It's an Onion!" he exclaimed. "It appears to be in a dormant state... maybe it has something to do with this gas?"

Olimar spied two bomb rocks and sent his white pikmin to collect them. Noticing the light trickling in from some cracks in the wall, he chucked both of his bomb-wielding pikmin in its direction. The resulting explosions damaged the wall even further, but it still wasn't enough. Luckily, a nearby plant that resembled a drooping, partially opened tulip ejected another bomb rock. Olimar repeated the process, and this time, the wall gave way to reveal a passageway leading above ground. As the light poured in and the gas poured out, the bomb-rock plant retreated into the ground whilst the Black Onion activated, dropping a single seed. Olimar was quick to pluck the sprout.

The pikmin was a light shade of black, and its cheeks were dotted with dark-cyan freckles. It was the height of a white pikmin, but its body parts were slightly thicker / wider.

"This new pikmin has what seem to be sensory organs on its face. I wonder what purpose they serve..."

The pikmin shook its body, causing its torso to expand briefly before settling back to normal size.

"Interesting... The Black Pikmin also appears to have a stretchy torso. Perhaps it could be used for storing something?"

After producing more blacks with the help of some newly sprouted Pellet Posies, Olimar tried to leave the cave... only to have his Black Pikmin go berserk and attack something.

"What's going on?" he wondered aloud as the pikmin struck at some invisible force. Suddenly, an odd, crawling octopus creature phased into visibility.

"The Black Pikmin were able to detect the creature's camouflage! Those sensory organs must be highly advanced!"

The octopus creature let loose with a splash of oily ink, but this accomplished nothing.

"Hmm... The creature's oily fluid doesn't affect them. I think I could take advantage of that..."

Olimar whistled his Black Pikmin back to him, then chucked them at their adversary. It was battered to death and used to produce more seeds. Afterwards, they exited the cave and stumbled upon a dormant oil well. Olimar remembered how he had found one of these earlier, but couldn't make use of it because it was impossible for the pikmin to collect it. It was then that he got an idea...

One by one, he chucked the black pikmin at the mound that was trickling with oil. They dug away at it until it burst upon, causing a large amount of oil to spill out and pool around the mound. But unlike the reds, yellows and whites who had simply thrashed away from the oil when Olimar had attempted this earlier, the Black Pikmin drank it, causing their torsos to bloat.

* * *

><p>Black Pikmin have heat sensing organs, which allows them to attack invisible enemies (if you're wondering how invisible enemies would work, think of the Vehemoth Phosbat). They can also absorb oil and bring it back to the ship for collection (they squirt it into the ship's collection area, where it's absorbed drop by drop. Collecting all the drops results in a complete canister). Whistling at a bloated Black Pikmin causes it to eject all the oil in its body through pores in its torso, like how whistling at a pikmin carrying a bridge piece or a gold nugget causes it to vanish into thin air. Oil doesn't kill other pikmin types, but is a nuisance to them.<p>

The whole oil thing is part of a story idea I have in mind, where Olimar (or possibly a different character) ventures to PNF-404 to collect natural resources (like ores, minerals and oil). I haven't decided what the resources are needed for, but I don't want it to be an energy crisis, because that's too similar to Pikmin 3's plot. What I do like about it is that it could lead to the reprisal of White Pikmin in story mode; not only are minerals often buried, but the air in mines (namely coal mines) is often toxic.


	13. Orange V2

**This isn't one of my best ideas IMO, ****but it has been in Development Hell for WAY too long, and I could always make a version 3 later on, so I figured I may as well post it.**

Olimar traversed a cave where patches of the floor were covered in an orange slime mold. It was shallow, and didn't seem to harm his reds, but it was obnoxious in that it slowed them down. Good thing there weren't any threats in the cave...

At what point, he encountered several dirt mounds that were close to each other. One of them was situated on a ledge with a pile of fragments, but it was too high for his pikmin to be thrown. So he sent them into the nearest mound, hoping they would resurface at the ledge. Unfortunately, they seemed to come out of every hole _except _the correct one.

"How inconvenient... the pikmin can't seem to find their way through the underground labyrinth. If only they could sense where they were going..."

He gathered his troops and moved on to a different part of a cave. The darkness subsided as he entered a "room" with part of the ceiling missing, allowing the sun to shine through. What Olimar saw next baffled him; there was an Orange Onion lying dormant, surrounded by a ring of mold, and covered in swarming sheargrubs. After crossing the mold, Olimar was quick to asses the situation, taking out the pests one by one with thrown pikmin. Once the last one was dead, the Onion burst to life, unleashed its tendrils and produced an orange seed.

Excited, Olimar plucked the sprout. The pikmin had what appeared to be half-a-nutshell covering its head, almost like it was wearing a helmet. The "helmet" was a chocolate brown, but its stem and everything beneath its semi-obscured eyes were orange. It also had a pair of parallel, horizontal ashy-streaks on either side of its face.

"What a peculiar specimen! I've never seen a pikmin with a head quite like that! I wonder what purpose that could serve...'

"Hmm... It has quite a serious look on its face, like its ready for any challenge..."

Olimar used it to collected the bodies, producing a total of fifteen orange pikmin. Once that was done, he led his army back across the mold. The reds slowed down drastically as usual, but the oranges didn't seem to falter at all, breathing and flexing heavily as they strained their way across (with cartoony sweatdrops flying off their heads).

"Wow! Such determination!" Olimar commented.

They returned to the location of the tunnel maze. Olimar figured he may as well try again, so he sent his whole squad inside again. The reds all popped out of the wrong holes, but all of the oranges popped out of the correct one and started gathering fragments!

"Astounding! The orange pikmin knew exactly where to go! Perhaps those structures on their heads function like radars..."

The oranges made a few trips back through the tunnels before they were done with the bridge. They crossed it outside and found... more bridge fragments on another ledge. Luckily there was a stick that made for easy access. Olimar instructed all the pikmin to climb it, but as they collected the pieces, they were met with a patch of tall grass blocking their path. The oranges passed through it with no problem, but the reds wandered about aimlessly, lost in the sea of green...

* * *

><p>The orange pikmin's "nut-helmet" works like a radar, which allows them to navigate the tunnels of interconnected dirt-mounds and patches of tall grass (the latter is only an issue when pikmin are trying to build bridges or collect treasure; otherwise, they'll just follow the sounds of your rustling. Grass patches can be bombed, but the bomb-rocks generally aren't accessible until after the oranges have done their work).<p>

They also have a "tough" disposition, which is why their appearance is based on that of soldiers. They aren't slowed down by slime mold, but this is mainly due to strong endurance / willpower on their part, as opposed to a biological ability. Their durability also allows them to recover faster when shaken off an enemy, and prevents them from becoming paralyzed by long falls (which is what happens to pikmin who are thrown off the Shaggy Long Legs, in case you didn't know). Additionally, they don't panic when they hear a loud noise (though they do freeze for a few minutes).

Just like tall grass, the slime can be destroyed by bomb-rocks, but most pikmin wouldn't be able to escape before the explosion... except the oranges. Alternatively, you could plant the bombs at the edge of the slime, but that's far less effective, and pikmin is all about time management, folks.

They do have a weakness, though: their bulky headgear makes it slightly hard for them to swing their stems, making them the second slowest attackers (the slowest being rock pikmin). However, if you use them in large numbers, their ability to recover quickly should make up for it.

Lastly, they don't scream when they drop a bomb-rock. Instead, they make a battle cry (but they're still smart enough to run away).


End file.
